Animated Movies from Shijiazhuang: Soft-Power Tools?

Main Link:
Activeley develop Domestic and Foreign High-End Cartoon Industry, “Going out” in Great Strides (积极开拓国内外高端市场动漫产业大步“走出去”)
Links within quotes and blockquotes added during translation.

China needed to build a sound, modern culture market system, the “Culture Document” (or “cultural decision”), approved by the 6th plenary session of the 17th Central Committee, stipulated in October 2011.

The focus must be on the development of books and other publications, digital audio and video products, performing arts and entertainment, television series, cartoons, animation, and [computer] games, and similar markets, for the further perfection of a comprehensive international Chinese platform on fairs and exhibitions, etc.

According to Shijiazhuang News Net (石家庄新闻网), the local cartoon industry is doing just that:

Since 2006 , under the close attention of the CCP municipal committee and the municipal government, our city’s cartoon industry has developed rapidly, and achieved notable results in satisfying the city’s needs of spiritual civilizsation, in spreading advanced culture, in enriching the masses’ lives, promoting the healthy adolescence of the young, and fostering the growth of a new economy. During the past seven years, no matter if established by locals or by companies who came to Shijiazhuang from elsewhere, they have enjoyed all the benefits of Shijiazhuang’s cartoon-industry policies, environment, and prospects. On this foundation, “cartoons made in Shijiazhuang” have gained the courage to display themselves, to develop markets, and with the advantages in branding, high-end orientation and originality, they have drawn widespread attention from industries at home and abroad.

2006年以来， 在市委、市政府的高度重视下，我市动漫产业迅速发展，在满足市民精神文化需求、传播先进文化、丰富群众生活、促进青少年健康成长、培育新的经济增长点方 面，取得了显著成效。7年来，无论是本土动漫企业还是来石创业的动漫公司，都享受到了石家庄动漫产业政策、环境、前景的利与好。 在此基础上，“石家庄原创动漫”勇于展示自我、敢于开拓市场，以品牌化、高端化、原创化的优势，引起了国内外业界的广泛关注。

By Shijiazhuang Newsnet reporter Wang Xin
本报记者王欣

As the saying goes, good wine needs no bush^*). However, this doesn’t apply in today’s increasingly competitive markets. After several years of development and carefully ripening the wine, its sweet smell attracts many investors and company founders. At the same time, cartoonists from Shijiazhuang also seize the opportunities of actively exploring domestic and foreign markets, to take Shijiazhuang cartoons to bigger arenas.

俗话说，酒香不怕巷子深。然而，在市场竞争日趋激烈的今天，好酒也怕巷子深。经过几年的发展，我市动漫产业如同一坛精心酝酿的老酒，持续散发出馨香的气 息，吸引了众多投资者、创业者前来。与此同时，石家庄动漫人也抓住机遇，积极开拓国内国外市场，把石家庄动漫推向更广阔的舞台。

The Shijiazhuang Animation Institute‘s (石家庄动漫协会), that of the beneficial support of the city government and the conducive industrial environment had all become the envy of companies elsewhere, according to Shijiazhuang Newsnet. “Publicity” (宣传) and promotion had made Shijiazhuang’s cartoon industry better known in China and abroad, making people coming to Shijiazhuang to seek cooperation. A Western Australian Film Office (西澳大利亚州政府电影融资发展局 – I’m not familiar with Australia’s film industry or the industry’s official promotional institutes) was currently seeking a cooperation partner with the Shijiazhuang Animation Institute’s assistance, according to the report. The Australians had been impressed with the originality and production levels of Shijiazhuang’s industry and had since visited four times, Shijiazhuang Newsnet quotes a member of the Shijiazhuang Animation Institute, Zhang Maolan (张茂兰).

DeepCG Animation Science and Technology gets a particular mention in the report. The general manager, Wu Yifeng (武义峰), doesn’t seem to be too specific about his company’s current prospects in Europe, but is quoted as saying that South-East Asia was the most promising market for one of his company’s works, a cartoon movie about late Han dynasty general Zhao Yun, given its richness with Chinese culture.

The cartoon’s title seems to translate Zhao Yun and the Clicking Sound of the Box (赵云与咔哒盒子).

It seems to be based on a theme previously used in a Zhao Yun movie (but not a cartoon) made in Hong Kong, in 2010.

Shijiazhuang News Net is the online platform of Shijiazhuang Daily (石家庄日报), an official CCP paper.

In a review of the 17th Central cultural decision in October 2011, David Bandurski of the China Media Project (Hong Kong) appeared to be skeptical of the impact Chinese media and culture could have under political and ideological controls.

It may be time for a first assessment of how things are going for the “cultural industry” in China – especially when it comes to its record abroad. Personally, I have no clue about cartoons, and not even a taste for them. Stuff like Zhao Yun and the Box (a sample video here) should be judged by bloggers or critics who really are into the genre.

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Note

^*) This isn’t an exact translation. The actual Chinese quote or proverb would be 酒香不怕巷子深 – something like the smell of wine isn’t afraid of a deep lane (or alley), meaning that good things will sell even without advertising them.

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Related

» Soft Power starts at Home, Jan 21, 2012
» A Low-Carbon Industry, Dec 2, 2011
» Shijiazhuang Cartoon School, CRI, Aug 20, 2009
» Go-Out Policy, Wikipedia, acc. 20130412
» Private investors, PD English, Aug 20, 2004

Xi Jinping, out of Town: Huanqiu Shibao quotes “Western Media” (i. e. Deutsche Welle)

China and Russia are most important strategic partners, the BBC quotes CCP secretary general and Chinese state chairman Xi Jinping, who has started a tour of Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo today. While in Africa, Russia will remain on his agenda on foreign relations, too – Xi will attend the fifth Brics summit from March 26 to 27 in South Africa.

Fenghuang (Hong Kong) coverage of Xi’s arrival in Moscow here »

According to the Voice of Russia (VoR), one of the aims in advancing the two countries’ partnership is to boost mutual trade turnover to 100 billion dollars by 2015. Energy issues, local economic cooperation and social events, including a meeting with students of the Lomonosov State University are on the agenda, according to VoR. According to the broadcaster, China has become Russia’s largest trade partner for the second year in a row.

Xi is scheduled to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin, prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko, Duma (parliament) chairman Sergey Naryshkin “and other leaders”, as well as friends from all ways of life in Russia, writes Xinhua newsagency. He will also deliver a speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and meet Russian sinologists, according to Xinhua. International affairs aren’t ranking high in the descriptive Xinhua article, but Russian president is quoted from a telephone record with Xi of March 14 as saying that Russian-Chinese relations were among the important factors of safeguarding world peace and stability, and carrying particular significance.

Huanqiu Shibao quotes a Russian deputy foreign minister as describing Xi’s visit to Russia as a “major event” in the two countries’ relationship. The deputy foreign minister added that Moscow had made careful preparations for the visit. Western media said that Xi’s choice of Russia as his first foreign destination was “no surprise” (“不意外”), writes Huanqiu. One after another, Western media believed that the intentions behind China’s arrangements made people wonder.

“Are China and Russia going to sign big energy contracts?” “Is Beijing turning back to the [old] strategic center of gravity with Moscow” to respond to the shift of America’s strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region?” The guesses and speculations by Western analysts, with seven mouths and eight tongues (七嘴八舌), look as if they were x-raying Sino-Russian relations.

俄副外长里亚布科夫21日用“两国交往中的大事件”形容这次访问，并称莫斯科已为迎接习主席做好万全准备。西方媒体大多对中国国家主席上任后首先访俄“不 意外”，同时纷纷认为北京的安排用意极深，耐人琢磨。“中俄要签能源大单？”“北京要用‘战略重心重返莫斯科’回应‘战略重心重返亚太’的美国？”西方分 析家七嘴八舌的猜测就像在给中俄关系做X光检测。

As for Xi Jinping’s visit to Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo, after his stay in Russia, and the “Sino-African approaches” (“中非走近”), following the “Sino-Russian embrace”, have gone hot in Western public opinion. “Westerners are tossing lots of question marks, but essentially, their curiosity is only about one thing. That is how big a country China will be in the next ten years”, says Chinese scholar Jin Canrong.

由于习主席访俄后将访问坦桑尼亚、南非和刚果(布) ，“中非走近”已尾随着“中俄拥抱”在西方舆论中迅速变热。“西方人抛出的问号很多，但实质上他们的好奇只有一个。那就是未来十年，中国会做一个怎样的大国。”中国学者金灿荣说。

In fact, Germany’s former foreign broadcaster and current media platform Deutsche Welle (DW) describes Xi’s visit to Russia as his unsurprising international debut. Deutsche Welle also quotes Gu Xuewu of the University of Bonn with pretty much the remarks about deepening military cooperation in the face of the US “pivot to Asia” that had been noted by Huanqiu Shibao’s “Western media” review.

However, much of what the DW article says is simply not quoteable for Huanqiu Shibao: fair weather friends, unsentimental partnership of convenience, or a trip to Moscow that was was symbolic in nature. Not to mention the demographic development in the Far East, viewed by the Russian side with unease.

And obviously, Huanqiu provides no link to the DW article – nor do they mention the old enemy broadcaster as their online source.

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Related

» VoR Chinese frequencies, swldxbulgaria, March 14, 2013
» CRI Russian frequencies, swldxbulgaria, March 14, 2013
» No Bullying, July 19, 2012
» Now Africa’s largest trading partner, BBC, May 22, 2012
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Xi Jinping’s Speech on Sunday: China Towering, but Development remains Overriding Ideology

Both an important speech (重要讲话) itself and the Chinese press coverage are part of the same decoration team, aiming at not only creating a verbal message, but an atmosphere, too. Newly elected state chairman Xi Jinping‘s speech on Sunday was no exception.

Today, our People’s Republic stands towering in the East of the world.

今天，我们的人民共和国正以昂扬的姿态屹立在世界东方。

Comrade Hu Jintao held the post of state chairman for ten years, and with a wealth of political wisdom, excellent leadership qualities, assiduous work spirit, did outstanding deeds to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, won the love and support from all the nationalities of China and the international community’s universal praise. We express our sincere gratitude and greatest respect to Comrade Hu Jintao!

胡锦涛同志担任国家主席10年间，以丰富的政治智慧、高超的领导才能、勤勉的工作精神，为坚持和发展中国特色社会主义建立了卓越的功勋，赢得了全国各族人民衷心爱戴和国际社会普遍赞誉。我们向胡锦涛同志，表示衷心的感谢和崇高的敬意！

Approving the predecessors: vote on last year’s government work report et al.
Click photo for CCTV coverage.

No need to repeat oneself. In Xinhua newsagency’s coverage, it is Xi Jinping himself who stands towering:

Wearing a dark-blue suit and a red tie, the membership hanging on his chest, Xi Jinping, tall of stature, stood smiling, calmly and self-confident. His voice clear, bright and vigorous, looking frank and honest, resolute and steadfast, he revealed the power of stirring people to action.

身着深色西装，佩带红色领带，胸挂出席证，身材高大的习近平微笑站立，从容自信。清朗而浑厚的声音，坦诚而刚毅的目光，透出激奋人心的力量。

“To achieve the construction of a moderately prosperous society, and the goal of a strong and prosperous, democratic and civilized, harmonious socialist modern motherland, to achieve the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, this means achieving modern national prosperity and strength, vigorous national revitalization, and the happiness of the people …”

“实现全面建成小康社会、建成富强民主文明和谐的社会主义现代化国家的奋斗目标，实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦，就是要实现国家富强、民族振兴、人民幸福……”

Witnessed by the Great Hall of the People, under the stars of its dome, under surges of applause, Xi Jinping firmly said:

人民大会堂见证，在繁星点点的穹顶下，在如潮涌动的掌声中，习近平坚定表示：

To bring about the Chinese dream, we must take the Chinese road.
To bring about the Chinese dream, we must advance the Chinese spirit.
To bring about the Chinese dream we must cohere Chinese power.

——实现中国梦必须走中国道路。

——实现中国梦必须弘扬中国精神。

——实现中国梦必须凝聚中国力量。

This is the duty the leaders of the People’s Republic of China take for the motherland, the people: we must never be complacent, we must never be sluggish, we must make persistent efforts, advance boldly, continue to push forward the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and continue to struggle for the achievement of the Chinese dream of China’s great rejuvenation.

这是共和国领导者对祖国、对人民的情怀和担当：我们不能有丝毫自满，不能有丝毫懈怠，必须再接再厉、一往无前，继续把中国特色社会主义事业推向前进，继续为实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦而努力奋斗。

This is our promise to the people: The Chinese dream is, after all, the dream of the Chinese people, it must firmly rely on the people to achieve it, it must continuously bring benefit for the people.

这是对民族的承诺：“中国梦归根到底是人民的梦，必须紧紧依靠人民来实现，必须不断为人民造福。”

That much from the Xinhua report, and back to the actual speech:

development remains the overriding (or absolute) strategic ideology (我们要坚持发展是硬道理的战略思想), said Xi, thus quoting “Deng Xiaoping theory”, but added that the fruits from development should benefit the entire people in a fairer way – and that China was still in “the first stage of socialism”.¹⁾

Taiwan didn’t escape a mention either²⁾:

Numerous Taiwanese compatriots and mainland compatriots join hands and support, maintain and promote cross-strait relations and peaceful development, enhance the happiness and benefit of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, jointly set up the new and further prospects of the Chinese nation. Numerous overseas Chinese want to make contributions to carry forward the Chinese nation’s the fine, diligent and kind Chinese tradition, and work diligently to advance the motherlands development, to promote the Chinese people’s and local people’s friendship.

广大台湾同胞和大陆同胞要携起手来，支持、维护、推动两岸关系和平发展，增进两岸同胞福祉，共同开创中华民族新的前程。广大海外侨胞，要弘扬中华民族勤劳善良的优良传统，努力为促进祖国发展、促进中国人民同当地人民的友谊作出贡献。

The Chinese people love peace. We will hold the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win high, we won’t change our road of peaceful development, we won’t change the strategy of mutual benefit and opening up, we will make efforts to cooperate friendly with all the countries of the world, fulfill our international responsibilities and duties, continue to work with all people in all countries to advance the lofty cause of humankind’s peace and development.

中国人民爱好和平。我们将高举和平、发展、合作、共赢的旗帜，始终不渝走和平发展道路，始终不渝奉行互利共赢的开放战略，致力于同世界各国发展友好合作，履行应尽的国际责任和义务，继续同各国人民一道推进人类和平与发展的崇高事业。

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Notes

¹⁾ 31 members of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) are farmers-turned migrant workers, China Radio International (CRI) reported on Sunday. That number was a tenfold increase from the 11th NPC. But they are hardly a match to the 90 NPC members who appear to be worth at least 1.8 billion Yuan (The Economist, March 16, 2013, page 53).
²⁾ Stability in Hong Kong and Macau was an issue addressed by Xi, too. One day later, on March 18, Xi reminded visiting Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying that implementation was the key to the chief executive’s vision of “seeking change while maintaining stability” in Hong Kong.
“I’m not an idiot either”, replied Leung. (No, Leung said no such thing. This is just a malicious rumor, courtesy of JR.)

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Related

» Nods to Public Concerns, NY Times, March 14, 2013
» Delegates make Difference, March 6, 2009

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“Greetings, and Nothing Particular to Say”: Lien Chan’s China Visit

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Nanfang Weekly (南方周末), February 25, 2013 —

At nine a.m. on February 25, CCP central committee secretary general Xi Jinping met KMT honorary chairman Lien Chan in the Great Hall of the People. Lien Chan had come to Beijing on February 24 as head of a delegation and is scheduled to return to Taiwan on February 27. The visit’s theme is to enter spring and revisit the past (走春访旧 – apparently a variation of 走春迎新年 – to greet the new year. Another way of putting it might be a nostalgic, yet forward-looking journey). Taiwan regional leader Ma Ying-jeou had asked Lien Chan to greet secretary general Xi Jinping.

2月25日上午9时许，中共中央总书记习近平在北京人民大会堂会见中国国民党荣誉主席连战。连战于24日率团来京，预计27日返台，此行定调为“走春访旧”。台湾地区领导人马英九请连战代为问候习近平总书记。

China News Service, on February 25, quoted Xi Jinping as saying that this was the first time since he took his new office that he met with Taiwanese friends. Xi Jinping said that when he worked in Fujian for many years, he had been in contact with Taiwanese issues almost every day, frequently met Taiwanese compatriots, and made many Taiwanese friends. It had been quite the same when he worked in Zhejiang Province and in Shanghai.

中新网25日消息援引习近平的说法称，这次是他担任新的职务之后，第一次会见台湾朋友。习近平称，他在福建工作多年，现在想起那个时期，他几乎每天都要接触有关台湾的事情，要经常会见台湾同胞，也结交了不少台湾朋友。到浙江、上海工作，差不多也是这样。

Xi Jinping particularly pointed out that “I and Chairman Lien got to know each other in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, when we met in April and in November 2006, and I vividly remember the circumstances and our conversations, and one can say that with this memory on mind, I and Chairman Lien are old friends. Ever since I left Fujian, I have paid attention to the situation in T the Taiwan Strait, hoping for continuously improving cross-strait relations.”

习近平特别提到：“我和连主席相识于浙江杭州，在2006年4月、11月两度会面，当时的会见情景，谈话情况，我现在记忆犹新，可以说当时情景历历在目，我和连主席是老朋友了。我离开福建到现在始终关注着台海局势，期待两岸关系持续改善。”

Xi Jinping also said that the new generation of collective CCP central committee leadership will continue to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and peaceful unification.

习近平还表示，中国共产党新一届的中共中央领导集体，将继续推动两岸关系和平发展，促进两岸和平统一。

Quoting China News Service (中新网) and CCTV with reports of February 24, Nanfang Weekly mentions some members of Lien’s 30-plus member delegation¹⁾, such as KMT vice chairman Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正), John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), think-tank director Tsai Cheng-wen²⁾, Radio Taiwan International  CEO Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭)³⁾ and New Party chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), plus representatives of public opinion (民意代表), business, farming and fishery, culture and education, the press, and religion.

Lien Chan said that this trip’s purpose was to enhance exchange, to exchange views with [people from] all walks of life, to look at the past and to look to the future. Lien Chan said that this was also the first time after the establishment of the new leadership by the 18th National Congress that he talked with mainland China’s leaders face to face, having the opportunity to listen to their views, thoughts and to the things they focused on. He could also exchange views with them about his understanding of the Taiwanese situation.

连战称，此行宗旨为增进彼此交流，与各界交换意见，看看过去，展望未来。连战表示，这也是中共十八大新领导班子成立后，第一次与大陆领导人面对面会谈过程，可以听听彼此的意见、思维与关注的焦点，他也会把他所了解的台湾情况，与对方交换意见。

According to CCTV reports on February 25, Lien Chan met with KMT chairman and Taiwan regional leader Ma Ying-jeou on February 22, ahead of his trip. Local media said that Ma Ying-jeou had nothing special to say [or to account for, 交待], only that he asked Lien Chan to greet secretary general Xi Jinping. A speaker for Ma Ying-jeou’s office said that the key point of the coming three years was to broaden and deepen cross-strait exchanges, and that therefore, Lien Chan’s visit to the mainland, in his private capacity, was viewed with optimism.

据中央电视台25日报道，连战行前在22号下午与中国国民党主席、台湾地区领导人马英九见面。当地媒体称，马英九并没有什么特别交待，只是请连战代为问候习近平总书记。马英九办公室发言人表示，扩大与深化两岸交流，是未来三年的重点工作，因此对连战以民间身份访问大陆乐观其成。

Lien had declined to go into detail about his scheduled meeting with Xi before leaving Taipei on Sunday night, the South China Morning Post‘s (SCMP) Taipei correspondent wrote on Monday.

But the SCMP also quotes Su Chi (蘇起), a former Taiwan National Security Council secretary-general, as saying that the new mainland leadership is expected to touch on more sensitive issues like political dialogues with Taipei.

Lien’s delegation spokeswoman was quoted as saying that Lien would meet outgoing state chairman Hu Jintao on Tuesday (i. e. on February 26).

Lien Chan was accompanied by his wife, Lien Fang Yu, and his son, Sean Lien (连胜文).

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Notes

¹⁾ According to the Taipei Times, Lien’s delegation included several business tycoons, such as Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Ruentex Group chairman Samuel Yin (尹衍樑).

²⁾ Tsai Cheng-wen is the National Policy Foundation’s (NPF) president. The NPF is a KMT think-tank.

³⁾ At an earlier trip to China, with a Taiwanese delegation to the Baoao Forum on Hainan in 2012, Chang Jung-kung was scheduled to be the delegation’s spokesman.

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Related

» Journey of Peace, SCMP, April 26, 2005
» United Front Doctrine (Democratization in Taiwan, ed. Steve Tsang, Houndmills, New York, 199

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Collector’s Items: Kimjongilia on Display in Shenyang

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The dear leader who will forever be remembered for replacing nuclar wars with intelligent technology (click picture).

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1) Voice of Korea, German Service, February 9, 2012

On the Day of the Shining Star – the birthday of Kim Jong-il -, the General Association of Koreans in China held a Kim-Jong-ilia exhibition in the Chinese city of Shenyang on February 4. The General Association of Koreans in China chairwoman Choe Un Bok and her coworkers, the Korean compatriots in China, the Consul-General of the DPRK in Shenyang and his co-workers, the members of the branches of Korean companies in Shenyang as well as cadres of Chinese Liaoning Province took part in the exhibition. The participants abided silent commemoration of Kim Jong-il.

Zum Tag des Leuchtenden Sterns – Geburtstag von Kim Jong-il – veranstaltete der Generalverband der Koreaner in China am 4. Februar in der chinesischen Stadt Shenyang eine Kim-Jongilia-Ausstellung. Die Vorsitzende des Generalverbandes der Koreaner in China, Choe Un Bok, und ihre Mitarbeiter, die koreanischen Landsleute in China, der Generalkonsul der DVRK in Shenyang und seine Mitarbeiter, die Angehörigen der Filialen der koreanischen Firmen in Shenyang sowie die Funktionäre der chinesischen Provinz Liaoning nahmen an der Ausstellung teil. Die Teilnehmer verharrten in schweigendem Gedenken an Kim Jong-il.

The speakers emphasized that the merits of Kim Jong-il, who had made a great contribution to deepening and developing [DVJK]-Chinese friendship, would live forever. They emphasized that the Kim-Jongilia, the flower for the praise of Kim Jong-il, would bloom forever in full blossom as a world-famous flower in the hearts of progressive people of the world and among the Korean compatriots in China.

Die Redner hoben hervor, die Verdienste Kim Jong-ils, der durch die energische auswärtige Tätigkeit einen großen Beitrag zur Vertiefung und Entwicklung der DVJK-China-Freundschaft geleistet habe, werden ewig fortleben. Sie betonten, Kim-Jongilia, Blume zur Lobpreisung Kim Jong-ils, werde als weltbekannte und als berühmte Blume in den Herzen der fortschrittlichen Menschen der Welt und der koreanischen Landsleute in China ewig in voller Blüte stehen.

Voice of Korea (Stimme Koreas), 09.02.2013

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2) KCNA: Kimjongilia Show Held in Shenyang

Pyongyang, February 8 (KCNA) – A Kimjongilia show for celebrating the birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il (the Day of the Shining Star) was held in Shenyang, China on Feb. 4 under the sponsorship of the General Association of Koreans in China.

Present there were officials of the General Association of Koreans in China including Chairwoman Choe Un Bok, Koreans in China, the consul general and members of the DPRK consulate-general in Shenyang and officials of Liaoning Province, China.

Speeches were made at the show.

The speakers said that immortal are the feats of Kim Jong Il, who made great contributions to strengthening the DPRK-China friendship with his energetic foreign activities.

Kimjongilia, flower praising the great man, will shine as the famous flower in the world and bloom in the minds of world progressives and Koreans in China, they noted.

They expressed belief that the Korean people will achieve greater success in the building of a thriving nation under the leadership of the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un this year.

Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), February 8, 2013

An informal Chinese translation (or re-publication) of a KCNA news article:

朝中社平壤２月８日电 旅华朝鲜人总联合会４日在中国沈阳举办庆祝金正日总书记诞辰日（光明星节）金正日花展。
议长崔银福等旅华朝鲜人总联合会成员、旅华朝侨、朝鲜驻沈阳总领事和总领馆人员、朝鲜驻沈阳各办事处人员以及中国辽宁省官员参观了花展。
参观者首先悼念金正日，肃立默哀。
展览上多位人士先后发言。
各位发言者说，金正日以精力充沛的对外活动为加强和发展朝中友谊做出了巨大的贡献，这一丰功伟绩将永垂不朽。伟人之花将作为世界名花、花中名花放射光辉，永远盛开在世界进步人民和旅华朝鲜人心中。
他们强调，深信朝鲜人民今年将在敬爱的金正恩元帅领导下，在强盛国家建设中取得更大成就。（完）

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3) China News Service, February 8, 2013: Three Postal Stamps

North Korea issues postal stamps to commemorate Kim Jong-il’s birthday on the “Day of the Shining Star”.  This picture shows Kim Jong-il at his time as a student at Kim Il-sung University. According to KCNA on February 7, the North Korean Postal Stamps Publishing Office published new stamps to celebrate the “Day of the Shining Star”, Kim Jong-il’s birthday. They include two small and two individual stamps.

[...]

朝鲜发行邮票纪念金正日诞辰日“光明星节”。图为金日成综合大学时期的金正日。 据朝中社7日报道，为庆祝朝鲜已故领导人金正日的诞辰日“光明星节”，朝鲜国家邮票发行局推出了新邮票，包括2枚小型张和2枚个别邮票。 [.....]

China News Service, February 8, 2013

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The Life of Xi Jinping: how they cried

Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Daily (深圳特区报) recently – possibly today – carried a long story about Xi Jinping – republished today by Enorth (Tianjin). The main ideological content of the article is nothing new – rather, it emphasizes continuity (and how Xi has been instrumental in bringing the current ideological status about, but it also points out Xi Jinping’s particularly “cordial ways”. All that along with a number of photos to underline the latter point. The following are excerpts from the article.

Main Link: “Xi Jinping chose the name Mingze for his daugher”

Xi Jinping has always regarded the people’s dream as his own dream. 43 years ago, he was sent to a village in northern Shaanxi as part of the educated youth sent to the countryside, being involved there for seven years. His first “official title” was that of a secretary of a “party cell” in a rural brigade. In 2007, experienced and toughened by many years of grassroots work and local work, he became a permanent member of the standing committee of the politburo, in charge of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, and also director of the party school. Soon afterwards, he became the vice chairman of the People’s Republic of China, and deputy chairman of the Central Military Commission. During the past five years, he has been part of the decisionmaking of the party and the state, and the decisionmaking, organizing and implementation of major policies.

习近平始终把人民的梦想作为自己的梦想。43年前，他曾作为知青到陕北农村插队，一干就是7年，他的第一个“官衔”，是构成中共组织体系“细胞”的大队 (行政村)党支部书记。2007年，经过多年基层和地方工作历练的习近平，当选中共中央政治局常委，担任中央书记处书记，兼任中央党校校长。他随后担任了 中华人民共和国副主席和中央军委副主席。5年来，他直接参与党和国家大政方针的研究制定，参与中央重大决策部署的组织实施。

[...]

He repeatedly emphasized that the party must manage the party, and rule it strictly. On November 17, on the first study meeting of the 18th Politburo, he profoundly pointed out that “things must not get rotten to get infested by worms. A multitude of facts are telling us: if corruption becomes more and more intense, it will, in the end, make the party and the country perhish! We must be vigilant!

他反复强调要坚持党要管党、从严治党。11月17日，他在十八届中共中央政治局第一次集体学习时深刻指出，“‘物必先腐，而后虫生。’大量事实告诉我们：腐败问题越演越烈，最终必然会亡党亡国！我们要警醒啊！”

[...]

There is an indissoluble bond between Xi Jinping and the troops. Early on, he worked at the General Office of the Central Military Commission for three years, and feelings between him and the troops remained deep afterwards. When he served [as a cadre, party secretary etc.] in the regions [and provinces], he served as the country armed forces first political commissar, municipal (regional) military committee first party secretary, the Provincial artillery Reserve Division first commissar, the Party committee of province military region first secretary and and the military region’s Military national defense mobilization committee, and he therefore fully understands the situation of the troops. He supports the army [literally: holds it in his arms], loves the military, and actively helps the troops to solve many practical problems. Having served as the deputy Central Military Commission’s chairman, he actively participated in the leadership work of building the military. At the 18th plenary session of the CCP’s Central Committee, he assumed the chairmanship of the CCP Central Military Commission.

习近平和军队有着不解之缘。早年他曾在中央军委办公厅工作过3年，与军队结下了深厚感情；在地方任职时，他先后担任过县人民武装部第一政委、市(地)军分 区党委第一书记、省高炮预备役师第一政委、省军区党委第一书记和大军区国防动员委员会领导等军队职务，十分熟悉军队情况。他拥军、爱军，积极帮助军队解决 了许多实际困难。出任中央军委副主席后，他积极参与国防和军队建设的领导工作。在中共十八届一中全会上，他接任中共中央军委主席。

“The People’s Liberation Army is the School of the Mao Zedong Thought”, cultural revolution poster. Fair-use Wikimedia Commons, click link for description.

Xi Jinping is tied to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Aomen. Seventeen years of working experience in Fujian Province have led him to deeply understand Taiwan and cross-strait relations. Under his watch, Xiamen built the first mainland [literally: hinterland, 内地] Taiwan trading guild hall, Fuzhou built the first industrial village with mainly Taiwan-invested companies. He did great things in removing worries and problems of Taiwanese compatriots, and many Taiwanese compatriots regard him as a good friend.

习近平心系台港澳。17年的福建工作经历，使他深入了解了台湾及两岸关系。在他任上，厦门设立了内地首家台商会馆，福州建立了第一个以台资企业为主的工业村。他为台湾同胞做了大量排忧解难的事情，许多台湾同胞都把他视为好朋友。

Besides linking Xi to every ideological decision of the past decades, the article also tries to emphasize roles he played in most or every major event of the past decades, including the Olympic Games in Beijing, farming, or biogas promotion.

And, as has to be the case with any model soldier or cadre, villagers accompanied their educated-youth champion when he left the countryside in 1975, after his six rural years, with “very many of them in tears” (很多人不舍地哭了). Xi had been recommended to Tsinghua University to study there.

That’s only from the first page of the article, and by no means a full translation or account of it. The article reads as if a third person had written Xi’s cv and an application letter to the people, for Xi to assume the top posts in the party and the state. And of course, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Daily has an additional reason to sing Xi Jinping’s praise. After all, his first inspection tour in his new capacity as the CCP’s general secretary took him to Shenzhen.

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Related

» The Latest about Xi Jinping Pingping, Dec 14, 2012
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A Message to “People with Different Political Views”, part 2

Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced the Helman/Hammet awards for 2012 on Thursday. I wasn’t aware that this prize  existed, but learned about it from the Chinese press.

Some context: a People’s Daily editorial (on a different issue, the International Communications Union conference in Dubai) was published on a number of popular Chinese websites on Thursday, without direct mention of this specific award. Huanqiu Shibao, a nationalist newspaper (and nominally, not necessarily by content, a sister paper to the English-language “Global Times”) addresses the prize issue head-on, in a way that may be tailor-made for its (angry, by trend) readership.

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

On the American “Human Rights Watch” list of the 2012 Hellman/Hammett Award winners, 12 out of 41 are Chinese, and there are seven people from China’s Uighur, Mongolian, Tibetan etc. national minorities among them. Nearly all of them have been in prison or are currently in prison. When looking at the organization’s name, and looking at which people are the prize winners, and what this prize is used for, one can expect that the Chinese people can make their guess, too.

美国“人权观察”组织近日宣布2012年“赫尔曼·哈米特奖”获奖者名单，一共41人，竟有12名是中国人，并有7人是中国的维、蒙、藏等少数民族，他们几乎都坐过牢或目前正在狱中。看看发奖的组织名称，再看看获奖者都是哪些人，这个奖是用来干什么的，大概不说中国人也能猜个八九不离十。

During these two years, there have been more and more extreme Chinese dissidents who won “human rights prizes” in the West, and [those dissident's] reputation is going lower and lower. What once bewildered Chinese society has become routine. We all know that there are a few people in this country who oppose the political system and that the West supports them. This has become an established pattern in the game between China and the West.

这两年中国在西方获各种“人权奖”的极端异见人士越来越多，获奖者的名气则不断走低。中国社会如今早已见怪不怪，我们都知道这个国家有一些对抗政治制度的人，西方支持他们，这已经是中西之间博弈的定式之一。

With China’s great scale of development, interaction between Chinese and Western people has also reached an amazing dimension, and the share of these Sino-Western frictions within the interaction is shrinking, and so is the influence of extreme dissidents in China. Frequently, they don’t get as much attention as lawful [or rightful] criticism on the internet does.

由于中国发展的总量很大，中国同西方交往的主体内容也有了惊人规模，中西这种摩擦在双方关系中的占比相对萎缩，极端异见人士在中国的影响萎缩得更快。他们往往还不如互联网上的合法批判者更受关注。

In exact words, extreme dissidents in China have become completely marginalized, and the way the West continues to use them to provoke China is lacking innovation. In fact, the voice of the entire Western discourse has become ever smaller in China, as they are losing to the excitement of the Chinese microblogs.

确切说，极端异见人士在中国已完全边缘化了，西方继续利用他们刺激中国是缺少创新的表现。事实上整个西方舆论的声音也在中国越来越小，它们在输给中国微博上的热闹。

The highest individual amount of prize money of the Hermann Hammett Awards doesn’t reach 10,000 US dollars, and one of its purposes is said to be giving “politically prosecuted” people in different countries some “living allowance”. But maybe they don’t know that this bit of money is pitifully small, [unsafe translation: for lawful critics in China]. China has become “tall and hefty”, and that bit of money and the hopes from the West are just a drop in the bucket.

“赫尔曼·哈米特奖”的最高个人奖金额不到1万美元，它的宗旨之一据说是要给受到各国政府“迫害”的人一些“生活补贴”。但他们或许不知道，这点钱对今天中国的合法批判者们是小得可怜的数目。中国已是“大块头”，西方花的那点钱和他们的愿望相比实在是杯水车薪。

What China and the West are struggling about concerning human rights is not clear. The two sides don’t understand each others words at all. Which is alright. Inside China, you have as many human rights critics in China as you want already, and although they are at times extreme, they are also comparatively specific. Society can thoroughly make sense of their context. Human rights prizes awarded by the West often come with abrupt choices, choosing strange people, and we don’t need to spend too much thought on that.

中国同西方在人权问题上争不清楚，双方相互根本听不懂对方说的话。那就算了。中国国内的人权批评如今已经要多少有多少，它们虽有时偏激，但都比较具体，社会能搞明白来龙去脉。西方发人权奖往往找了突兀的缘由，选了奇怪的人，我们对此不必费太大心思琢磨。

Of course, Western criticism of China’s human rights isn’t completely meaningless. They did move things in Chinese society. Sometimes,confrontation is also a means of interaction. However, objectively speaking, much of Western criticism goes beyond China’s realities, thus causing suspicions among Chinese people about intentions behind Western methods. All this has seriously harmed strategic mutual trust between China and the West, and its negative impact on the 21rst century gretly exceeds its benefits.

西方批评中国人权当然不是毫无正面意义，它们毕竟对中国社会带来过触动。有时对抗也是相互影响的一种方式。然而客观地说，西方的很多批评都超越了中国现实，从而引发了中国人对西方这样做背后用心的高度怀疑。这一切严重破坏了中西之间的战略互信，它带给21世纪的负面损害远远高于正面收益。

Extreme dissidents played an offbeat role of their own in China’s reform and opening, but when their role will be assessed from the distant future, they will definitely not be seen as a mainstream force in advancing China’s progress. If the focus of these Western awards isn’t a prank, it must be caused by a failed analysis of China’s power.

极端异见人士在中国改革开放中扮演了很另类的角色，但即使很久以后回过头再做评价，他们也决不会被看成推动中国前进的主流力量。西方给这些人如此集中地发奖，如果不是西方的恶作剧，就是他们对中国的力量分析发生了本末倒置的偏差。

Pluralization in Chinese society has subtly built changes in the way the country progressed. When the government issued a call in the past, society responded in its multitude. Now it leads to a debate. It has become unlikely that the country makes another grave mistake [This and the previous line seem to allude to the excesses of Maoism], but at the same time, societal efficiency is also declining. China is in the process of finding a new point of balance in these changes. If extreme dissidents who break through the legal system of these social changes and explorations, they create destructive mishap, and will be investigated in accordance with the law.

中国社会的多元化造成了国家前进方式的微妙改变。过去政府发出号召，社会一呼百应。现在争论发生了。国家再犯重大错误的几率小了，但同时社会的运行效率也在降低。中国正在这些变化中寻找新的平衡点。极端异见人士突破了社会变化和探索的合法系统，他们制造出破坏性，对他们的依法追究决非这个时代的意外。

Western support for Chinese extreme dissidents seems to become ever closer, but times when this kind of thing found its way into the limelight are gone. They have become as tasteless as chicken ribs, but the West seems to be reluctant to throw them away. Nowadays, Western organizations doing these things look more like astute public-relations industries. Assuming an air of importance. To make themselves look good, they are seeking gimmicks close to China’s rise.

西方对中国极端异见人士的支持看似越来越密，但这种事最出风头的高潮实际已经过去，它对西方渐成食之无味、弃之可惜的鸡肋。如今做这些事的西方组织更像搞商业公关，它们装腔作势，傍着中国崛起找噱头炒作自己。那些所谓的“人权奖”都是绞尽脑汁吸引公众关注的游戏。

Much of the commenting underneath seems to be about unrelated everyday issues (Maybe there are relations which I can’t see, though). One of them which would seem to show some of the desired effects, and also one of the more extensive ones suggests that

Patriotic people don’t need to listen to American and other Western countries’ forces’ anti-China rumors, or be furious about them. Westerners people nowadays lose in the political and economic field and know perfectly well that their own institutions have problems, but won’t change, believing it’s the mother of all systems. Therefore, they will blame anyone except themselves, [...] this is the common fault of Western people, seeing in exasperation how China becomes stronger by the day, moving heaven and earth and racking their wits about how to obstruct China’s development, but to no avail. Instead, China develops even faster. Now they only have the human-rights and democracy card left [...]

爱国之人不要听美国等西方反华势力的谣言，而恼怒，西方人如今政治经济完全失败，明知自己的体制出现问题，可是就是不改，认为自己是体制的老大，而怨天尤人，[气人有笑人无，] 这是西方人的通病，看着中国日益强大而气急败坏，想方设法，绞尽脑汁的妨碍中国的发展，但是都无济于事，反倒使中国发展更快。现在就只有民主这张牌 [...]

It is also one of the comments – if not the comment – in the thread which got the most “support” votes – 267 by 11:00 UTC. The average “support” among the latest thirty-three comments got twenty “support votes” or less.

The People’s Daily editorial – published two days before Huanqiu Shibao’s, and in a different context (the International Telecommunications Union resolution) – could be summed down as follows:

• Those who oppose censorship are a minority (if not outsiders, which is deemed an unfortunate position in a Chinese context)
• America and other (barely mentioned) countries that didn’t agree to the International Telecommunications Union resolution are in a minority
• A free internet is war on vulnerable nations
• China is at the center of the family of nations
• dissidents are isolated.

The message People’s Daily’s and Huanqiu Shibao’s editorials  have in common is that the country grows stronger, and that “Western” standards would be an exception, rather than the norm. In some ways, Huanqiu Shibao’s approach is more subtle than People’s Daily, though. Even “radical minorities” played a certain role, according to its description – and it suggests that there were “lawful” ways to bring about change.  When it comes to banging the drums of nationalism however, there is no room for subtlety in Huanqiu’s case. While People’s Daily merely uses ITU voting results to point out China’s strong position, Huanqiu counts the prize money from Human Rights Watch and provides an assessment (“pitiful”).

The biggest commonality between the two editorials seems to be the message to (“extreme”) dissidents: you are marginalized.

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Related

» Ambassadors Abroad, May 25, 2012
» A Trivial Matter for the Country, Jan 23, 2012
» Party Media Control Capability “Weakening”, Aug 12, 2011
» The “Internet Information Office”, May 6, 2011

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Is China Misunderstood? And if Yes, How?

• “People in China have as many freedoms as people in Europe, as long as they don’t organize to challenge CCP rule.”

Not really. Frequently, challenging one bureaucrat amounts to challenging the party. What you can and what you can’t do depends on your connections, and even if you are pretty well connected, no independent court will protect you and the liberties you have taken to do things when the party decides that it has a stake in your case.

• “The Chinese Communist Party has lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty.”

That’s conventional wisdom. But isn’t it the party’s decision to leave more space for  privately-owned business – i. e.  a withdrawal from business administration – which has led to that success?

• “Authors like Mo Yan show that you are quite free to criticize leadership decisions – even if you are formally part of the system.”

Mo Yan spoke up for Liu Xiaobo (with some disclaimers included in his talk), and that was a good decision – but if he wasn’t part of the system, and right in the limelight, such a public statement might have earned him an invitation for a cup of tea at the next public security office – or worse.

What is true is that China is much more of a mixed economy these days, than thirty years ago. What may also be true is that the cadres, too, have become much more affluent. Some leaders, especially top leaders, have become rich.

And this seems to amount to a strange excuse, frequently offered by CCP apologists: because the Communist leaders – and top leaders not least – are so corrupted, their theories can’t be taken seriously anymore. Or rather: even as a democrat, you don’t need to take their theories seriously anymore.

That’s a nice license to do business with the guys. Unfortunately, it’s a faked license.

It is true that what the CCP cadres do has little to do with their original theories. But that only means that their concept of class relations has changed. Contrary to what coverage frequently suggest,  that’s no bashful change. It’s clearly documented, not least in Jiang Zemin‘s Three Represents which are part of the official party theories. All this hasn’t hasn’t changed the CCP’s view of who should rule the country, and how they want to rule.

The CCP claims the function to decide what Chinese culture is, and what isn’t. They are the “standard bearers” and the “developers” of Chinese culture. They have left cultural organizations and individuals more leeway than during the Maoist days, just as they have left businesses more leeway – see above. But all that is revocable. It is part of the party’s development project. Obviously, people make use of the leeway they have – but given that the party has the last word on what will make it, and what won’t, its claim to be the developer is often taken remarkably lightly.

Above all, however, there is one constant: that while the outside world has certain good things to offer, it is, above all, a threat. The concept that an imagined innocence, “cultural” purity, or general well-being of the Chinese people can only be safeguarded by the CCP’s monopoly to power has never changed since the party came to power. A country that swallows the humiliations that come from this power monopoly and ultimately has to blame the outside world for exactly these humiliations can’t be a terribly friendly country.

The Libyan or the Syrian regimes have never been popular among Americans or Europeans. The Chinese regime isn’t, either. There is a lot of fault-seeking going on. Every incident, every blooper, and every corruption case among more senior officials are highlighted in the Western press, as if corruption was something particularly Chinese, or even something particularly CCP. But that seems to be arrogance, and wannabe virtue, rather than objectivity. Just as there was a preparedness to believe that basically, Libyans or Syrians were prepared to tolerate, if not support, their leaders, there is a preparedness to believe the same thing of China and the CCP.

When taking a benevolent view of Western governments and the Western public perception, they were also prepared to believe that at least the Syrian regime would give way to democracy (or theocracy) peacefully, rather than clinging to power by all means. If we may believe Western governments’ statements these days, they are absolutely shocked that, once having shown signs of vulnerability, such regimes aren’t tolerated by their own people anymore. By the same logic, Western governments are even more shocked to learn that such regimes would go “from house to house” to find and slaughter oppositionals, suspected or proven. By the same logic, Western governments and the Western public are outraged to learn that a regime may actually bomb its own cities, at war with many of its own people.

They would quite probably be just as “shocked” if such events occured in China. And then they would start explaining why they did have reasons to believe that the CCP regime was “responsible” and “accountable” to the people, why they did have reasons to believe that the party would put the people first, and put itself next.

And as long as shit doesn’t happen, they’ll tell you how the status quo in China is still better than any conceivable alternative. (That said, many foreign party apologists aren’t that much more interested in trying to imagining alternatives, than the CCP itself.)

People who are using excuses like the ones quoted at the beginning are most probably those who actually “misunderstand” China most fundamentally. But it’s a wishful misunderstanding. A less friendly word for it would be complicity.

That complicity is no crime. Or, if it is, this blogger, too, is complicit. I accept that our governments and businesses need to find compromises with totalitarian dictators, at least for the time being.  What I don’t accept is the beautification of the regime. Whoever justifies its existence needs to be prepared to accept the same standards in his home country – not necessarily as a ruler, but as a subject to such rule. (One problem among Western decision makers is that they themselves can only think of themselves as rulers, not as subjects.) But if you argue that, because of the “circumstances”, this or that has to be good enough for Chinese citizens, this or that has to be good enough for you, too – provided that the “circumstances” (seem to) demand it.

To be clear: this is no suggestion that Western intelligence services should sponsor underground organizations in China. It is a suggestion that people should stop thinking of China as some kind of “democracy”, or a “democratizing country”, only because it makes it easier for us to justify our business with China. The issue isn’t how Westerners could “westernize”, “democratize” or whatever-ize China. It is to make sure that our own values don’t become blurred in the process of interaction.

A paranoid scenario? Up to you. But take a look at the debate between U.S. president Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney on foreign policy. Not a single mention of China’s political system. Rather: long debates on how to “shape” the Middle East.

And all that – my take of it, that is – to flatter power delusions among the American public.

That’s where the circle closes. Power isn’t irrelevant. But without a conscience – an understanding of what we are doing -, it may be wielded in a pretty CCP way: self-flattering, self-serving, and oblivious.

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Related

» Enabling “Democracy in International Relations”, The Peking Duck (guest post), Oct 2, 2012
» Asma Al Assad, the All-Natural Beauty, The Richest People, Febr 23, 2011
» Huang Mengfu: It’s Complicated, Jan 7, 2009

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